INQUIRY LEARNING PLANNER

Description of Student Cohort

This unit of work is designed for the cohort of Prep to Year 2, consisting of around 60
students collectively. The school is based in the western metropolitan area of Melbourne, in
Moonee Ponds. Due to the area they are in, there is always some sort of community action
happening and the people within the suburb are very community orientated. Therefore, it
comes as no surprise that the students are immensely interested in getting involved within
their community and are always looking to find out ways of how they can be active
members within it. Majority of the students are kinaesthetic learners and thus love to be
active in their learning while also enjoying group work. Furthermore, they also enjoy
creative and art based activities. However, they tend to have very low attention spans which
lead to them easily losing concentration. The teaching staff hopes to improve this
throughout the unit by making the activities hands on and interactive which therefore
Comment [O1]: A learning goal that
even though isnt directly related to a
curriculum outcome, will be extremely
useful for students to develop.

makes learning exciting for students.

UNIT TITLE:
LEVEL
F-1

Whos there to help us?

TEAM
Jessica, Amalia and
Charlotte

TERM
3

DURATION
9 weeks

UNDERSTANDINGS:
FOCUS QUESTIONS:
Prep
Students are able to identify
Can you name a member of our
members of their community
community?
Students are able to distinguish who
If I was in trouble who could help?
could help them in particular
Where do I belong in my community?
situations
Students can identify which group
they belong to in their community,
i.e their home and school community
Year 1
Students are able to identify the
Who are the people in our

community they belong to and

acknowledge that different people
make up this community
Students are aware of the different
roles and responsibilities people
have in their community and why
they are important

community?
What do different people in our
community do? What are their jobs?
What are their responsibilities? How
can they help us?
Which community helper can help me
in different situations?

KEY CONCEPTS:
Roles and responsibilities, community
helpers, community, citizenship

TUNING IN
Lesson 2:
Introduce students to Judith Caseleys book On the Town: A community adventure. Before
reading, examine the illustrations on both the front and back cover of the book. Ask
students to try and identify the different people, who they are and what they might be
doing. Ask the following tuning in question, I wonder what types of community helpers
Charlie and his Mum will find during their walk? Whilst reading, draw attention to the
appearance of the different community helpers and encourage engagement by asking text
to self questions, such as Have you ever been to a police station? Where do you take your
animal when its sick? and so on. Put the students in small groups of 2 or 3 and give them a
device (eg. computer, laptop) to play the game Whats my job? Each student will get a
chance to play the game, the teacher should stress the importance of sharing and taking
turns. This game introduces students to different jobs in the community, which have just
been read about, and requires them to match the job and community helper together.
Before asking the students to do this, model a few examples on the Interactive Whiteboard
so students are clear about how the game works.
Reflection
Inform the students that just like Charlie in the book, they too will be going on a community
walk around their neighbourhood. In each class, the teacher scribing, the classroom
Wonder Wall is filled out. Students place any wonderings, using their senses, on this wall
about the upcoming community walk. Play the YouTube clip People in your
neighbourhood, to close the lesson which features a song the students can sing along too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lRBtfYbNv8
Lesson 3:
Delegating each teacher to one of the three stations (a paint station, paper station and wash
station), students will be asked to cover both their hands in a paint colour of their choice,
place their hand prints on an A3 piece of paper with the title Helping Hands at the top,
and are then asked to go wash their hands. While waiting for the paint to dry students will
be asked to reflect back on the previous two lessons through a class discussion. Returning to
their seats with their hand prints, students will be asked to fill out ONE of their hands. They
will illustrate people on the fingers on the chosen hand, and are asked to write the names of
these people that help them above it. For example, students could draw family members as
explored in the first tuning in lesson, or active community helpers as explored in the second.

Comment [O2]: Specific book used as a

teaching resource.

Comment [O3]: Use of ICT as a

resource

Comment [O4]: Another use of ICT .

The teacher will model this task and leave an example on the board which the students can
refer back to. Early finishers will be asked to write sentences on the back of the sheet
explaining how these people help them.
Reflection
Students will be asked to come back to the floor all together and selected students from
each class will display their work and pick out one example and explain how that person
provides helping hand to them.
FINDING OUT
How can we: Take students beyond what they
already know? Challenge their ideas, beliefs
and attitudes? Enable them to use skills and
knowledge to collect new information? Provide
a range of experiences to develop our
understandings?
Lesson 4:
The aim of this lesson is to stimulate the
cohorts curiosity and interest in their
community. Before the walk begins, the
students will be asked to think about all the
different people within their lives which help
them. Prior to the walk, students will also be
given a number within their class, which allows
the teacher to easily keep track of where they
are. The walk will start at the school and take
students along the main strip of shops which
includes a grocery shop, fruit and vegetable
market and family run businesses. Students will
then be taken down past the local doctors,
police station, library, fire department, bus
depot, train station and council town hall.
While visiting and interacting with these
different people and settings within the
community, questions such as How would a
doctor/nurse/firefighter/vegetable shop owner
help us?, Where do we fit in as members of
this community?, When you look around
what kind of people are there for us?, and If
you were put in a difficult situations how do
you think might come help you and how?, will
be asked. This stimulates the childrens current
knowledge, whilst also encouraging them to
raise other relevant questions and challenge
current beliefs and values within their thought
process. Emphasis will be placed on how these
members of the community are there for our
students and how they dont just belong to

SORTING OUT
How will students sort out, organise,
represent and present what they have
found out? How can they communicate
and express what they know? How will
they use preferred ways to demonstrate
their knowledge, skills and values?
Lesson 6 :
Revise with the students their knowledge
on community helpers such as their
Community Walk and the texts they
have read and write these down through
a brainstorm on the whiteboard. Whilst
brainstorming, also discuss with the
students what these different people look
like and do. Model and encourage
students to use nouns and adjectives
whilst doing this, and if needed remind
the students what these kinds of words
are.
In pairs, students are given a piece of
butcher paper each and are asked to lie
down on the paper as their partner traces
around their body onto the piece of
paper. The students are then to colour in
and illustrate this body outline to make it
look like their favourite community helper
or the community helper they would like
to be when they grow up. They can use
the brainstorm on the board to help them
if needed. The students are also asked to
write down different nouns and adjectives
and/or sentences around the body outline
which describes what this person looks
like and the responsibilities of their job.
Be mindful of students whom may be
taking too long illustrating their body and
encourage them to write their words or
sentences and then continue illustrating,

Comment [O5]: Examples of some of

the titles these activities are included under
as a way of organising the unit.

Comment [O6]: Provides an opportunity

to engage parents/carers in the educative
process as they could be aids on the walk or
they could welcome students into their local
business and give them a quick talk.

Comment [O7]: Examples of some of

the questions that can be asked to students
demonstrating a use of effective classroom
communication.

their family community but also other

communities within their everyday setting.
Reflection
Once back at the school, students will be
directed through a facilitated classroom
discussion where they will brainstorm in small
groups and then collectively, the different
community helpers they engaged with on the
walk. Key words and settings using their senses
as well as the community helpers names will
be added to poster which will be placed the
inquiry classroom display. The predictions
made in Tuning In lesson 2 will also be
addressed.
Lesson 5:
Students will gather as a whole group to begin
with, with a map of the community displayed
on the interactive whiteboard. Teachers will
trace the route they took yesterday on the walk
nominating students to explain what
community helper was where and how they are
helpers. Students will be asked to contribute
their thoughts as to what they learnt on the
walk, for example Was there someone they
meet that they might not have realized was in
fact a community helper? Was there someone
that we didnt meet but they saw along the
walk? And How could they be considered a
community helper? Students are also
encouraged to consider the similarities and
differences between their own community walk
and Charlies community adventure. Students
will then continue to fill out their helping hands
poster, by illustrating the remaining with
another five community helpers that they
discovered on their excursion. Students will
then be asked to write how these members are
helping hands at the bottom of their sheet. The
sheets will then be mounted as part of the
inquiry unit display.
Reflection
In class groups, going around in a circle,
students will be asked to display their helping
hands poster and read out their sentence as to
why the people they have chosen provide
helping hands.

to ensure they are able to complete the

written component of the activity.
Reflection
The students work is later displayed in the
inquiry unit display. Students are asked to
fill out a simple self-evaluation of their
work and learning. This includes shading
in a face and writing a short statement
about how they feel about their learning.
This may include something they have
done well or something they need to
work on. The teacher should first model
and explain how this worksheet works to
the students so the purpose is clear.
Lesson 7:
Activity 1: Play a game of Celebrity
Heads with the students, with the
modification being community helpers
not celebrities. During this activity, model
and facilitate the types of questions asked
which focuses not only on physical
appearance but also the responsibilities of
community helpers. The students are
encouraged to work in groups so they can
help each other devise questions or
consult each other to answer the
questions correctly.
Activity 2: Give the students paper
squares which they are to use to write
different statements about a community
helper they choose. These statements are
designed to help someone guess who
they are writing about. Model and discuss
an example on the board, which the
students can refer back to during the
lesson. Focus again on the use of nouns
and adjectives.
Reflection
In class groups, students come back to the
floor with their Who Am I? cards and sit
in a circle. Each student reads out their
card and the class is given an opportunity
to guess who they are by placing their
hands up. If the students dont guess in
three tries, then the student reveals the
identity of their community helper. These
cards will then be displayed in the

Comment [O8]: Class discussions,

brainstorms and group work all demonstrate
different teaching strategies.

classroom.

INQUIRY EVALUATION
This unit of work exceeded our expectations. The students responded really well to both
group and individual tasks which was a major focus during the unit. It was apparent through
their participation that this unit really resinated with them on a personal level, making
learning easier and more achievable. The students were given an opportunity to express
their learning through their preferred medium of art as well as other styles of learning, such
as writing and verbal discussion. This meant students were engaged and focused for longer,
again a goal for this cohort. If time had of permitted we could have further explored the
content through modes not usually employed in the everyday classroom, such as music.

Comment [O9]: This evaluation

demonstrates how I can evaluate a unit and
include possible future considerations as a
way of improving it.